This is The Exciting Bit. It is with great pleasure, and only a little bit more ado, that I introduce the first of our authors. These are two talented and frankly charming people. More importantly they’ve written some fine books.

Our new logo and branding

Ok, so this might count as teasing, but before I get to the authors you should know that our favourite designer is currently working hard on our new branding. He’s a seasoned pro, something of a gentleman and has already returned to sunlight squinting and holding great jewels of design goodness.

We’re working with him at the moment to make sure that these uncut gems are expertly polished. More news in coming weeks.

Back to the authors

One important bit of quibbling definitions before the big reveal though. I want to make it clear that these aren’t acquisitions for Unsung, nothing so possessive! We’ve chosen them as much as they’ve chosen us, and we’ve chosen them because we think they’re really rather good. Unsung, you could say. So, because I hate choosing favourites, in alphabetical order:

Ian Hocking

Ian Hocking is author of the Saskia Brandt series and an entirely clever man. Not content with being a doctor of psychology, he is also already a successful self-published author. Ian has been working with us on a new revised edition of Déjà Vu, an intricate near-future technothriller and we are very much looking forward to bringing this new work to you.

Déjà Vu is fast-paced, taut, tense and set to keep you on your toes. David Proctor, a research scientist, is running for his life from unknown forces. Saskia Brandt is the detective on his trail. More than just a thriller, this is a book about the lines between man and technology and the beginning and end of personality in the age of super-computers.

Reviewers have already said things like: ’Excellent...crisp and professional. This book bodes well for the future.’; ‘[Hocking] Breaks new ground.’; 'Shows mature confidence.’; and 'Inventive and witty.’ So just have a think what the new and improved version is going to be like.

We are very pleased to announce that we will be publishing her new novella this summer. The Beauty is the story of Nate, the storyteller of a group of survivors in a world without women. This is a timeless and strange place where history is recreated around the campfire every night, where something waits for the men in the woods. At once a lyrical tale of the storyteller and a dark vision of the future, The Beauty is full of Aliya’s trademark ability to fill stories with elegance, humour, the brutal and the delicate.

So there you have it. Consider these books our flag pitched in the landscape. They aren’t meant to be just like all the others, they aren’t meant to be play nicely with all the other genres. They’re the ones to watch, the quiet ones in the corner who you just know are up to something much more interesting than you are.